1990 AFL season

For the 1990 season of the Arena Football League, see 1990 Arena Football League season.

The 1990 AFL season was the 94th season of the Australian Football League (AFL) and the first under this name, having been known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. It was the highest level senior Australian rules football competition and administrative body in Victoria; and, as it featured clubs from New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia, it was the de facto highest level senior competition in Australia. The season featured fourteen clubs, ran from 31 March until 6 October, and comprised a 22-game home-and-away season followed by a finals series featuring the top five clubs.

1990 AFL premiership season
Teams	14
Premiers	Collingwood 14th premiership
Minor premiers	Essendon 13th minor premiership
Pre-season cup	Essendon 1st pre-season cup win
Brownlow Medallist	Tony Liberatore (Footscray)
Coleman Medallist	John Longmire (North Melbourne)
Attendance
Matches played	161
Total attendance	4,086,283 (25,381 per match)
Highest	98,944 (Grand final, Collingwood vs. Essendon)

The premiership was won by the Collingwood Football Club for the 14th time, after it defeated Essendon by 48 points in the 1990 AFL Grand Final.

Club leadership

Club	Coaches	Chairman/President	Executive Director/General Manager	Football Manager	Leadership group	Ref.
Brisbane Bears	Norm Dare (senior) Rodney Eade (reserves)	Noel Gordon	Andrew Ireland	Shane O'Sullivan	Roger Merrett (captain) Scott McIvor (v/captain) Martin Leslie (deputy v/c)
Carlton	Alex Jesaulenko (senior) Rod Ashman (reserves) Ross Henshaw (under 19s)	John Elliott	Ian Collins	Stephen Gough	Stephen Kernahan (captain) Craig Bradley (v/captain) David Rhys-Jones (deputy v/c)
Collingwood	Leigh Matthews (senior) Michael Taylor (reserves) Keith Burns (under 19s)	Allan McAlister	Rob Petrie	Graeme Allan	Tony Shaw (captain) Peter Daicos (v/captain) Brian Taylor, Gavin Crosisca, Darren Millane (deputy v/captains)
Essendon	Kevin Sheedy (senior) Mervyn Keane (reserves) Ray Jordon (under 19s)	Ron Evans	David Shaw (exec. director) Roger Hampson (gen. manager)	Kevin Egan	Tim Watson (captain) Simon Madden (v/captain) Mark Thompson (deputy v/c)
Fitzroy	Rod Austin (senior) Robert Shaw (reserves) Leigh Carlson (under 19s)	Leon Wiegard	Max Kelleher	Arthur Wilson	Paul Roos (captain) Gary Pert (v/captain)
Footscray	Terry Wheeler (senior) Trevor Fletcher (reserves) Neil Clarke (under 19s)	Peter Gordon	Dennis Galimberti	Gary Merrington	Doug Hawkins (captain) Stephen Wallis (v/captain) Tony McGuinness (deputy v/c)
Geelong	Malcolm Blight (senior) Dennis Davey (reserves) Brendan Tinkler (under 19s)	Ron Hovey	Ken Gannon	Garry Fletcher	Andrew Bews (captain) Steve Hocking (v/captain) Barry Stoneham (deputy v/c)
Hawthorn	Allan Jeans (senior) Des Meagher (reserves) Russell Greene (under 19s)	Trevor Coote	John Lauritz	John Hook (football manager) Alan Joyce (director of football)	Michael Tuck (captain) Gary Ayres (v/captain)
Melbourne	John Northey (senior) Mark Cross (reserves & under 19s)	Stuart Spencer	Tony King	John Sell	Greg Healy (captain) Garry Lyon (v/captain) Jim Stynes (deputy v/c)
North Melbourne	Wayne Schimmelbusch (senior) Laurie Dwyer (reserves) Denis Pagan (under 19s)	Bob Ansett	Ken Montgomery	Greg Miller	Matthew Larkin (captain) Ben Buckley (v/captain)
Richmond	Kevin Bartlett (senior) Emmett Dunne (reserves) Doug Searl (under 19s)	Neville Crowe	Cameron Schwab	John Wardrop	Dale Weightman (captain) Michael Pickering (v/captain)
St Kilda	Ken Sheldon (senior) Warren Jones (reserves) Gary Colling (under 19s)	Travis Payze	Rick Watt	Peter Hudson	Danny Frawley (captain)
Sydney	Colin Kinnear (senior) Mark Maclure (reserves) Greg Harris (under 19s)	Michael Willesee	Geoff Slade (exec. director) Barry Breen (gen. manager)	John Reid	Dennis Carroll (captain) Gerard Healy (v/captain) Greg Williams (deputy v/c)
West Coast	Michael Malthouse (senior)	Terry O'Connor	Brian Cook	Trevor Nisbett	Steve Malaxos (captain) John Worsfold (v/captain) Phil Scott (deputy v/c)

Foster's Cup

Main article: 1990 Foster's Cup

Essendon defeated North Melbourne 17.10 (112) to 10.16 (76) in the final.

Home-and-away season

Round 22

• The St Kilda-Essendon game was the only one in which all 4 Daniher brothers (Anthony, Terry, Neale, and Chris) played in the same match.

Ladder

(P)	Premiers
	Qualified for finals

#	Team	P	W	L	D	PF	PA	%	Pts
1	Essendon	22	17	5	0	2526	1815	139.2	68
2	Collingwood (P)	22	16	6	0	2376	1825	130.2	64
3	West Coast	22	16	6	0	2274	1920	118.4	64
4	Melbourne	22	16	6	0	2339	2066	113.2	64
5	Hawthorn	22	14	8	0	2414	2002	120.6	56
6	North Melbourne	22	12	10	0	2519	2210	114.0	48
7	Footscray	22	12	10	0	2016	2031	99.3	48
8	Carlton	22	11	11	0	2277	2187	104.1	44
9	St Kilda	22	9	13	0	2328	2313	100.6	36
10	Geelong	22	8	14	0	2248	2398	93.7	32
11	Richmond	22	7	15	0	1988	2530	78.6	28
12	Fitzroy	22	7	15	0	1874	2389	78.4	28
13	Sydney	22	5	17	0	1904	2704	70.4	20
14	Brisbane Bears	22	4	18	0	1733	2426	71.4	16

Rules for classification: 1. premiership points; 2. percentage; 3. points for
Average score: 100.1
Source: AFL Tables

Finals series

Finals week 1

	Elimination Final
Sunday, 9 September 2:30pm	Melbourne	def.	Hawthorn	MCG (crowd: 74,954)
	1.2 (8) 3.6 (24) 9.10 (64) 10.13 (73)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	2.6 (18) 4.7 (31) 5.10 (40) 8.16 (64)	Umpires: Carey, Sawers Television broadcast: Seven Network
Bennett 4 Stretch 2 Eishold, Healy, Jackson, Spalding 1		Goals	2 Brereton, Dunstall, Hall 1 Platten, Pritchard
Eishold, Stynes, Campbell, Yeats, Rohde, Newport, Healy		Best	Hall, Tuck, Mew, Pritchard

	Qualifying Final
Saturday, 8 September 2:30pm	Collingwood	drew with	West Coast	Waverley Park (crowd: 57,546)
	3.6 (24) 7.11 (53) 10.12 (72) 13.12 (90)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	3.1 (19) 6.5 (41) 10.10 (70) 13.12 (90)	Umpires: Ball, Rich Television broadcast: Seven Network
Daicos 4 Barwick, Brown 3 Taylor 2 Manson 1		Goals	4 Sumich 2 Lewis, Heady, Langdon 1 Kemp, Keene, Waterman
Brown, Wright, Francis, Millane, A. Richardson, Gayfer, Daicos		Best	Lewis, Heady, Lamb, Mainwaring, Hart, Langdon, Watters

	Qualifying Final Replay
Saturday, 15 September 2:30pm	Collingwood	def.	West Coast	Waverley Park (crowd: 53,520)
	8.1 (49) 12.6 (78) 14.9 (93) 19.12 (126)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	2.1 (13) 4.5 (29) 9.9 (63) 9.13 (67)	Umpires: Mitchell, Sheehan Television broadcast: Seven Network
Brown, Daicos 4 Manson, Crosisca, Francis 2 Kelly, Russell, McGuane, Christian, Millane 1		Goals	4 Sumich 2 Keene 1 Langdon, Turley, Kemp
Christian, Francis, Wright, Morwood, Brown, Gayfer, McGuane		Best	Turley, Sumich, Lamb, Keene, Worsfold, Lewis

Finals week 2

	First Semi-final
Saturday, 22 September 2:30pm	West Coast	def.	Melbourne	Waverley Park (crowd: 43,458)
	4.2 (26) 10.5 (65) 16.10 (106) 19.16 (130)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	2.1 (13) 2.8 (20) 8.9 (57) 15.10 (100)	Umpires: Sawers, Rich Television broadcast: Seven Network
6 Waterman 4 Sumich 3 Jackson 2 Mainwaring 1 Lewis, Keene, Langdon, Kemp		Goals	Grinter 4 Bennett, Yeats, Jackson 2 Tingay, Campbell, Spalding, Healy, Eishold 1
Turley, Keene, Mainwaring, Waterman, McKenna, Jackson, Lewis		Best	B. Lovett, Spalding, Campbell, Eishold, Stynes, Grinter

	Second Semi-final
Sunday, 23 September 2:30pm	Collingwood	def.	Essendon	MCG (crowd: 91,555)
	4.5 (29) 7.7 (49) 12.8 (80) 17.15 (117)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	2.3 (15) 5.7 (37) 7.10 (52) 7.12 (54)	Umpires: Carey, Sheehan Television broadcast: Seven Network
Brown 5 Daicos, Barwick 3 Starcevich, Russell 2 Francis, Crosisca 1		Goals	3 Salmon 1 Harvey, Kickett, Vander Haar, Thompson
McGuane, Brown, Banks, Morwood, Russell, Francis, Christian		Best	Salmon, T. Daniher, Thompson, Bewick, Ezard

Preliminary final

	Preliminary Final
Saturday, 29 September 2:30pm	Essendon	def.	West Coast	Waverley Park (crowd: 55,813)
	4.1 (25) 11.3 (69) 13.10 (88) 18.13 (121)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	1.2 (8) 5.3 (33) 6.8 (44) 8.10 (58)	Umpires: Carey, Sheehan Television broadcast: Seven Network
Ezard, Harvey 3 Salmon, Madden, Vander Haar 2 Anderson, Bewick, Kickett, Long, Manning, Watson 1		Goals	3 Jackson 2 Sumich 1 Heady, Langdon, Mainwaring
Madden, T. Daniher, Anderson, Grenvold, Ezard, Hamilton, Bewick		Best	Mainwaring, Lewis, Scott, Hart, Heady, Brennan, McKenna

Grand final

	1990 AFL Grand Final
Saturday, 6 October 2:30pm	Collingwood	def.	Essendon	MCG (crowd: 98,944)
	2.5 (17) 8.9 (57) 11.10 (76) 13.11 (89)	Q1 Q2 Q3 Final	2.2 (14) 3.5 (23) 5.6 (36) 5.11 (41)	Umpires: Sawers, Rich Norm Smith Medal: Tony Shaw Television broadcast: Seven Network National anthem: Normie Rowe
Brown 2, Barwick 2, Crosisca 2, Russell 2, Daicos 2, Monkhorst, Starcevich, McGuane		Goals	Salmon 2, Kickett, Somerville, Grenvold
Shaw, Russell, Monkhorst, Millane, Francis, Kerrison, Starcevich, Crosisca, McGuane		Best	Watson, Sporn, T. Daniher, Kickett, Ezard, O'Donnell
Brown (concussion), Starcevich (concussion)		Injuries	Nil
See Tribunal		Reports	See Tribunal

Season notes

• The Victorian Football League (VFL) was renamed and re-badged, with a new logo, as the Australian Football League in 1990.
• VFL Park was re-designated as Waverley Park, although it took about two or three years for football commentators and sporting editors to stop using the old name for the ground.
• Prior to the season, it was announced that Fitzroy and Footscray – both in serious financial difficulty – would be merging to form a single club known as the Fitzroy Bulldogs, which was to have commenced in the AFL in 1990. Less than three weeks after the announcement, a successful grass-roots campaign by Footscray supporters restored their club to a position of financial viability, and the merger was cancelled.
• Five minutes into the third quarter of the Round 1 game between Geelong and Hawthorn, the Cats led the Hawks 10.6 (66) to 9.11 (65): Hawthorn then outscored Geelong 19.13 (127) to 1.5 (11) in the rest of the game to win by 115 points.
• Under the AFL rules at the time, the drawn qualifying final between Collingwood and West Coast was replayed on the following weekend. This meant that minor premier Essendon was given a second consecutive bye week, giving them three weeks between games: Essendon ultimately reached the grand final through the preliminary final, but they were soundly beaten in both the second semi-final and grand final, to which many laid partial blame upon the extended layoff. Additionally, the one-week delay caused scheduling issues for venues and hotels, as a large number of league and corporate events related to the finals, and particularly in the week of the grand final, had to be rescheduled: the extent of this was unprecedented, as the number and scale of such events had increased significantly since the last drawn early weeks finals match, the 1972 second semi-final. The AFL introduced the provision to play extra time in drawn finals matches, except the grand final, in future years to prevent any repeat of these logistical problems; extra time was implemented in the grand final from 2016.
• The Port Adelaide Football Club from the South Australian National Football League made a bid to join the AFL; the application was rejected, with a composite SANFL team, christened the "Adelaide Crows", being admitted to the AFL competition in the 1991 season. Port Adelaide ultimately entered the competition in 1997.
• The Brisbane-Melbourne game in round 5 was the 10,000th VFL/AFL match.
• North Melbourne won the Under 19's premiership. North Melbourne 16.12 (108) defeated Melbourne 5.14 (44) in the Grand Final, held as a curtain-raiser to the reserves grand final on 6 October at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
• Carlton won the reserves premiership. Carlton 14.14 (98) defeated Melbourne 11.15 (81) in the Grand Final, held as a curtain-raiser to the seniors grand final on 6 October at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Awards

• The Brownlow Medal was awarded to Tony Liberatore of Footscray.
• The Coleman Medal was awarded to John Longmire of North Melbourne.
• The Norm Smith Medal was awarded to Tony Shaw of Collingwood
• The Leigh Matthews Trophy was awarded to Darren Millane of Collingwood
• The Wooden Spoon was "awarded" to Brisbane
• The Under 19's Grand Final was won by North Melbourne against Melbourne
• The Reserves Grand Final was won by Carlton against Melbourne
• The Seniors Grand Final was won by Collingwood against Essendon

References

• Stephen Rodgers: Every Game Ever Played VFL/AFL Results 1897–1991 3rd Edition 1992. Penguin Books Australia ISBN 0-670-90526-7.

Sources

• 1990 AFL season at AFL Tables
• 1990 AFL season at Australian Football